Live boldly. Love fiercely. Laugh daily.

Primary Menu

My cactus-needle-plucking good Samaritan

As most of you know, I’ve been struggling to remove cactus needles from my hands and mouth ever since my rescue from Big Bend Ranch State Park.

First, I want to thank all of those who have called with or emailed suggestions. I so appreciate it.

I’ve soaked my hands, used glue, Duck tape, baking soda and salve. But the needles embedded in my hands and mouth look like small, fine hairs. And they’re barbed. My last resort: hot wax, per the suggestion of websites devoted to cactus-needle removal.

Yesterday, I got another phone call, this time from a man — Terry Holler — who works at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette’s print shop.

Terry, it turns out, is a licensed massage therapist. But the magical words he uttered were:

“I have an industrial hot wax machine.”

I resisted the impulse to declare my love. But I was, well, rather enthusiastic in my reaction to this news.

“I can bring it tomorrow,” he told me. “It takes two or three hours to heat up.”

No problem, I assured him. Just call me when it’s ready.

The timing was perfect. You see, in the past few days, my body started to reject the needles, just as doctors said it would. This process involves raised, pus-filled blisters, which help force the needles to the surface of the skin.

Today, around 1 p.m., I headed over to the print shop.

Here’s a before photo of one of my afflicted fingers:

Forefinger on my left hand.

Now imagine those blisters all over both hands. Ugh.

Once at the print shop, I dipped each hand into hot wax. Then Terry bagged them up and stuck what appeared to be oven mitts over the bags.

And then we waited.

Once the wax cooled, he peeled it off. Now the blisters were even more prominent. And the needles were even more visible.